TOPIC: Teachers’ salaries should be based on their students’ academic performance.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.
Below, I am sharing my writing on the topic. It is my second practice with the Analytical Writing section. (English is not my first language.)
This topic raises the issue of whether teacher’s salary should be decided based on their students’ success. It is widely being discussed that teachers all over the world, unfortunately, are getting paid much less than an average worker that puts same amount time into making money. This is very disturbing if we take into account the contribution teachers make into society by educating our future; children. Although, as a matter of fact, determination of teachers’ salary varies in a major way depending on the states, the most common way to pay teachers hourly with fixed amounts. This might seem to be unfair to the teachers who make more effort for their students’ success since this would not would not change their salary.
However, to reflect on this topic, there are other relevant facts to be discussed that would turn this argument to the other way. First of all, a teacher’s effort into her student’s success is not the only determinant. Indeed, no matter how good a teacher does her jobs in supporting her student’s success, her student might end up not being successful in the exams. In this scenario, it might be the case where her student takes more time to learn or less smarter than the average. Also, a student might easily be affected from family problems or any other social problem which then would affect his grades badly.
The opposite is true where a teacher does not make any effort into her student or does her job poorly but her student ends up very successful in the exams. This might be because, the student is smarter or has no family problems or also because his family can afford tutors after the school for him.
Deciding teachers’ salary based on their students’ academic success is also bad idea because it would discourage teachers taking jobs in poor neighborhoods. Research shows that students with poor families are likely to do worse in their studies than the ones with rich families. This is even more true if the student has to support his family financially in early ages and loses interest in school work.
It is reasonable expectation of teachers who do better job to demand their salaries to be determined based on the quality of their work or success of their students. However, this way would have the solutions we hope for which is to encourage teachers to do better jobs but indeed hurt the ones who are good-hearted to teach underpriviledged kids.
